


Find A Way To Keep This Moment

by junkster



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: A Week In The Life Of The Mythical Kitchen, Big Strong Boys, Boys Kissing, Christmas Fluff, M/M, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:21:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21782530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junkster/pseuds/junkster
Summary: Just Josh hanging out and making out with one of his best boys. This was supposed to be fluff, but, of course, I still managed to wedge some h/c in there.
Relationships: Josh Scherer/Lucas March Strader
Kudos: 11





	Find A Way To Keep This Moment

**Author's Note:**

> I just want to say thanks to Josh for letting us see more of Lucas, lately, via Food Feats. Thanks bro.
> 
> Sorry 'bout this, though...
> 
> (One or two episodes of Food Feats may be referred to here).

  
  
  


### Monday.

  
  


Josh loves the prop room. It brings out the kid in him, fills him with this kind of wonder at all the possibilities. There are monsters and guns and costumes of all kinds, and shelves stacked to the ceiling with mundane stuff like bed sheets and fake plants and metres and metres of pipes and tubes and hoses. Power tools, screw drivers, washers, soldering irons...it just goes on, and on. It's a treasure trove, infinitely cool, dark and cluttered. There aren't any windows, just a couple of skylights, and when the motion-sensitive lights start to go out there's just enough of a glow to take the gloom from total darkness to batcave.

Lucas is part of the treasure trove.

Standing at his desk and staring down at a schematic spread across his keyboard, it takes him a few seconds to acknowledge Josh’s presence. He looks tired and a little ragged.

“Oh, hey Josh,” he says, looking up and blinking at the sudden change in focus, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

“Hey,” Josh greets, looking around the room at the other desks, empty of life. “Where is everyone?”

“It’s past six pm, dude, they’ve gone home.”

Josh looks at his watch. “Oh. Time really flies when you're up to your elbows in offal, doesn't it?”

Lucas smiles. “I mean, I've always felt that way, sure. You come to ask me to build you something stupid?” 

“Actually not this time. I’m waiting for some hot sauce to cool down so I can add the eggs, thought I’d come and bother you for a while.”

Lucas frowns. “Hot sauce?”

“Oh, hot as in melted chocolate. Not Tapatio.”

“Okay. That makes more sense.”

“What’re you still doing here?” 

“I’m just trying to iron out the kinks in a mechanism for a prop I'm making. Built it yesterday, tested it and it broke, so it's back to the drawing board.”

“You want some help?”

Lucas looks at him, considering. “Aren't you busy with guts and stuff?” 

“Well, I mean, there's the chocolate sauce, but aside from that I’m just waiting for some blood to congeal now.”

“Of course you are.”

“So I'm kinda free for a while. I’m all yours, man. Put me to work.” 

Lucas raises an eyebrow. "I don't think I can, honestly. Risk assessments and everything, y'know? Kevin and Matt would kill me if I did this to you." He lifts his left arm and Josh realises suddenly that his hand is bound up, the bandage winding around his palm and between his thumb and forefinger.

"Oh, dude, what happened?" he asks, a weird flutter of worry slicing its way through his chest. He moves closer to get a better look, reaching out to take Lucas's wrist gently. "When d'you do this?"

"Earlier," Lucas says calmly, standing and watching patiently as Josh turns his arm over to look at the bandage that winds around his palm and up around his wrist. "We're trying to build a snowflake cannon for Christmas, like a confetti thing, but I over pressurized the air tank a little and the joints weren't strong enough, and, long story short, I got a piece of roughly-cut metal pipe shunted into my palm at quite a speed."

“Wow. Is it bad?"

“Nah, just cut a little. No stitches or anything.” 

"I mean, talk about risk assessments..."

Lucas shrugs. "Can't plan for every eventuality. Especially when it's something you've never done before. And I'm kinda clumsy. I'll admit to that."

Josh looks up at him in wonder. "You weren't freaked out by this? You could've really hurt yourself, man!" 

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me, dude! A few inches deeper and I’d’ve been out of a job, probably. You don't see many prop guys with one hand, lemme tell you.”

Josh shakes his head and smiles for a moment but it's kind of overtaken by a frown as he runs a thumb across the rough bandage that covers Lucas's knuckles.

"C'mon, man, it's not that bad," Lucas reassures quietly, as Josh's fingers curl around his wrist. "Every time I see you you've got at least one band-aid on."

"Are we both clumsy guys who deal with sharp things and/or hot things every day?" Josh asks with dawning realisation.

"I think that's it, man. I think that's what we bond over."

"Damn," Josh says, and he pulls Lucas into a hug, knocking a fist gently into his back. "And here I thought it was us both being, y'know. Tall. Handsome. In touch with our softer sides."

"We can be that too," Lucas mumbles against Josh's shoulder.

"Okay. I guess so," Josh says, and he sighs. "You wanna come play with my congealed blood?"

Lucas looks down at his schematic for a second, then turns his head back into the curve of Josh's shoulder and sighs as well. "You got any gloves?"

  
  


### Tuesday.

  
  


Lucas volunteers to help him decorate what seems like a hundred gingerbread men, and honestly, Josh can’t think of many people he’d rather spend a couple of quiet hours with, covered in frosting and chocolate.

“You wanna do some faces?” he asks, handing over a piping bag full of white icing. “You’re an artistic dude, you’re hands down gonna be better at this than me.” 

Lucas looks at him like he’s crazy but he takes the bag and looks at the spread of cookies in front of him on the island countertop. “Are you sure? I think I’m hands down gonna _ruin_ these…”

“You can’t ruin gingerbread men, it just gives them character,” Josh assures him, tipping a huge bag of M&M's into a bowl. “And there’s tonnes of them, dude. If some of the early prototypes look a little Jason Voorhees that's fine. You’re gonna be a pro at this by the end, I promise you.” 

“Why _are_ there so many?” Lucas asks he leans over the first cookie and starts carefully piping a smile onto its blank, golden face. 

“Pretty much because Pasley said so.” 

“You do everything Pasley tells you to?”

“I mean, it looks that way," Josh says earnestly. "Apparently he has a kind of confidence that I respond to.” 

Lucas smirks. “So they’re props?” 

“Yeah, they’re props.”

“For a show? I don’t remember any meetings involving gingerbread men, Josh…Are you sure these aren’t all just for the crew?”

“I mean, that’s totally possible," Josh says as he fights with the lid of a red food colouring bottle. "He didn’t actually tell me what they were for.”

“Maybe it’s for LTAT? I’m not generally party to those conversations.” 

“I hope so. I mean, Pasley's great and everything, but I was here at _six_ baking these bad boys.” 

“Six? You’ve been here for _ten_ hours already?”

“Probably more like eight, I guess? I spent a half hour getting lunch and I went to the gym, and I had a meeting with a guy about my book, but...yeah. Something like that."

"That's hardcore, Josh," Lucas says, frowning as an eye joins itself to another eye with a string of icing. "Oops."

"I mean, I’ve seen you here at all times of the day and night, man, so I know you work harder than I do.” 

“That's not true," Lucas says kindly, turning his mistake into a pair of glasses. "Sometimes you’ve just gotta get stuff done, right?” 

"Sometimes you just better _work_," Josh says, hanging over Lucas's shoulder to look at his handiwork before adding absently: "I mean, so Ru Paul tells me." 

Lucas huffs a quiet laugh. "How'm I doing?"

"Awesome! You're a natural. Hey, I totally chose the right person to help me with this..." Josh realises. "You want me to show you how I do those tricksy eye parts?"

"Sure. Teach me, wise one."

Josh reaches his arms around from behind and adds his hands to the piping bag, hooking his chin over Lucas's shoulder to see what they're doing. He presses his fingers over Lucas's big hands and guides him to the next cookie over. "Here...so you come over this guy slowly, and squeeze it, but kind of dip the bag down as you go to let it settle before pulling straight up...and out...just like that."

Lucas watches intently even as he asks with a smile: "Why're we Ghost'ing it?"

"It's a tried and tested method to teach someone, man," Josh says, "plus it means I get to hold onto you for a minute and that's always one of the best parts of my day, honestly."

"I'm enjoying it," Lucas says earnestly, taking one of his hands off the bag to reach under Josh's arm and grab a handful of M&M's. "I'm gonna give this guy buttons, okay? He's gonna be a fashionista elf. I guess they should be red and green, right?"

"Okay, I mean, he's starting to look a lot like this clown that came to my school once called Buttons the Clown, but that's okay, I've repressed those nightmares for this long, I can keep at it."

Lucas grins and reaches a hand up to tip a few M&M's into Josh's mouth. “I want you to tell me all about Buttons the Clown in just a minute, okay? And we should make some crew look-a-likes, right? We'll need some giants. They all the same size?”

Josh gestures towards the back counter near the microwaves with his head. “S'some tall guys back there, medium guys are by you, small guys over by the freezer. Oh, and there’re some dogs, too. I tried to get a reindeer cutter but they were sold out, it being December and everything and me being super slow off the mark. So I got the dog one.” 

“Cool. Let's go to town with the white icing and make a Barbara...” 

  
  


### Wednesday.

  
  


"Are you okay?" Lucas asks, crouching down to put a hand on Josh's back. "You finished?" 

Josh groans something unintelligible into his forearm and then heaves again, spitting bile into the toilet. 

"Guess not," Lucas says dryly, and he reaches over to pluck Josh's glasses off his head to keep them out of harm's way. "Really didn't agree with you, huh?"

"Remind me to never do that again," Josh says, voice hoarse. He spits again and reaches for the flush. His stomach _hurts_. "Except don't, cos I'll probably do it anyway."

"You did good, man." 

"I broke a world record!" Josh says, weakly triumphant.

"Yeah, you did. You smashed it, dude." 

"Couldn't'a done it without you."

Lucas smiles. "Yeah you could. All I did was almost drown you in baby food. You didn't aspirate any of that stuff, right?" 

Josh huffs a laugh as he closes the toilet lid and subsides into a heap on the tiled floor. "I hope not. God, is this what babies feel like? Is this why they cry so much?" 

"I don't think their parents force-feed them each time," Lucas muses. He pats Josh's back before getting to his feet. "Stay put, champ. I'll get you some water." 

By the time he gets back from the kitchen, Josh is sitting on the closed lid of the toilet with his hands between his knees and his shoulders hunched, tired and drained. 

"Thanks, man," he says, as Lucas hands him some a glass. "Tap water, nice. End the single use plastic, am I right?" 

"Water is water, right?" Lucas says with a shrug. He perches back against the sink counter and folds his arms, regarding Josh thoughtfully. "You gonna be okay? I can take you home, if you want." 

"Nah, I'll be okay now it's all outta there. You went to college, you know what it's like." 

"To ingest a load of crap and throw it back up immediately?" Lucas asks. "Sure. I once ate a jar of ragu because we had literally nothing else in the house, and then projectiled it all over the bathroom. One of my roommates came in and thought I'd murdered someone in the tub."

"I mean, you do have something of the psychopath about you," Josh says honestly, taking another sip of water. 

Lucas smiles in amusement. "Wow, dude, stop flirting with me." 

Josh huffs a laugh. "Sorry. ADD, I say a lot of inappropriate things. Like, what are social niceties again?" 

Lucas tips his head thoughtfully. "That's why you keep asking me to make out with you, huh?" 

Josh laughs, a burst of relief at Lucas's familiarly, lazily amused drawl. 

Lucas smiles at him. "I don't think you suck at anything, man. Wait...was that inappropriate too? God, it's catching..."

"C'mon, don't make me laugh too much, my stomach hurts." 

"You sure you don't wanna go home? You're a record breaker now, you deserve the rest."

"I'm supposed to have a meeting with Kevin, I think. I'll be okay in a while. It's settling back down."

"I'm happy to go tell him you're sick. I mean, you actually look like you puked on your shirt, so..."

Josh looks down at the baby food stain on his t-shirt. "Oh, god," he groans, and for a second he looks like he might have to do a quick about-turn in the cubicle.

"Easy, now," Lucas says in amusement. "Eyes up. Look up, champ." 

Josh looks up at him and takes a deep breath. He sighs. "Okay. You're right," he says, and he gets to his feet and walks slowly over to the sinks, setting his glass down on the side so he can hit the soap dispenser. "I should go home. Clean up." 

Lucas watches him as he washes his hands, then passes him a paper towel. They stand, facing each other, Josh leaning back against the counter in his spattered t-shirt. Lucas sighs, shakes his head and says: "Here," and he starts unbuttoning his shirt. "Take it off." 

Josh's brain, still a little caught up on how violently he just expelled three pounds of baby food, comes up blank. "Huh?"

"You heard me," Lucas says with a smile, crooking his finger. "C'mon. Up."

"What're we..." Josh starts to say, then he just goes with it and does as he's told, pulling his top off over his head. 

"I know you've got fucking ridiculous arms, dude, but my stuff's usually kinda oversized, so I think..." Lucas slips out of his shirt. He's wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt underneath. "It might just work out. C'mere...stand up straight, soldier." 

Josh watches in bemusement, dropping his t-shirt onto the floor and pushing away from the sinks to stand up.

Lucas looks at him with a shake of his head. "Jesus, what _are_ you?" he mutters. "What the hell, dude." 

Josh laughs as Lucas grabs him by the shoulders and turns him around, standing behind him to thread his left hands through the left sleeve. "A ridiculous human being?" 

"You're not wrong," Lucas says earnestly. "God. Drink some beers, man. Join the rest of us in slob-dom." 

"I've been there and done it already, man," Josh says apologetically. "Been the fat kid, and the fat college kid, and sure, I was happy enough, but I'm kinda hooked on this now."

"And nicotine. And caffeine. Red bull, espressos..." Lucas lists dryly. "You know, you should probably stop vaping. I heard about a guy whose vape pen exploded in his face. No good having an amazing body if you've got a crater for a face." 

"Says the guy who almost blew his hand off the other day." 

"Hey, I don't have an amazing body _or_ an amazing face, so the loss of a hand's not gonna keep me down, pal." 

"You think I have an amazing body?" 

Lucas shakes his head as he stands behind Josh and pulls the shirt up his arms and onto his shoulders. It's a little tight across his biceps. "You should not need my validation on this, Josh," he says, gesturing at the mirror. "You have a _six pack_. You're like a weird, awkward superhero." 

Josh blinks at their reflection, realising suddenly that he's not wearing his glasses, and that they are, in fact, on Lucas's face, and that Lucas has set his own on the side somewhere. The fact that his eyesight's impaired seems to heighten the absolute weirdness of the sensation of unfamiliar cotton against his skin, still _warm_ from Lucas's body heat. It makes him shiver, goosebumps spreading across his arms.

"I like your face," he says quietly.

Lucas raises an eyebrow. He smiles. "Is this the inappropriateness again?"

"You said you don't have an amazing face. _I_ like your face," Josh says earnestly. 

"Oh. Well, thanks, man. I appreciate that." Lucas settles his hands on Josh's shoulders and squeezes gently, this thumbs pressing in on either side of Josh's spine. Josh's legs, already feeling kind of disconnected from the rest of him, get a little weaker, and he reaches out to grab the edge of the counter "Look at you," Lucas says quietly. "You even look good in my old shirt, jackass." 

Josh stands there, entranced by their slightly blurry reflection. "Fuck. I apparently have a new kink." 

Lucas's arms come around Josh's waist to start sliding the buttons into place. "Me too," he murmurs. "I didn't know clothes sharing was a thing for me." 

"This was against your skin, like, a minute ago. It's still _warm_, dude."

"Good."

"And you look really good in my glasses, by the way."

"Yeah? They actually work pretty well for me. We must have pretty similar prescriptions, I think. Here," Lucas says, taking the glasses off and sliding them carefully back onto Josh's face. "You should have 'em back. I just didn't want them to fall into your puke." 

Josh's world focuses in with sudden, immediate clarity as Lucas's fingers work their way up to the second button down, close enough to his throat for him to feel the warmth from Lucas's bare skin. Lucas is looking him right in the eye via the mirror, fingers working blindly, his face kind of soft and open without the frame of his glasses but his eyes so intense. It's an incredibly vulnerable position, Josh's head feeling light as Lucas pauses there for a moment to run a thumb along the line of his collar bone, slow enough that Josh finds himself holding his breath.

And then Lucas is gone, moving over to his right sleeve, rolling the open cuff up over his forearm, his fingers brushing against the skin of Josh's arms and leaving goosebumps in their wake. He does the same to the left side. 

"There," he says quietly. "Not a bad fit, actually." 

Josh doesn't answer, watching as Lucas moves back behind him, just to his left, his right hand on Josh's shoulder. In the mirror they're like some kind of strange, dimly lit, grungy prom photo. Josh feels like he's in a dream, looking at himself in the soft, worn plaid shirt he's seen Lucas wear ten times over, Lucas's eyes still fixed so intently on him, the slow breaths through his nose soft against Josh's neck. 

"Fuck," he says softly. "I wish I hadn't just puked my guts up."

Lucas's reflection grows a smile, slow and amused. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Why?" Lucas asks, his eyes wandering to Josh's neck. 

"You know why." 

"Tell me anyway," Lucas murmurs, leaning in to bump his forehead gently to Josh's temple.

"Because I want you to push me up against this counter and put your tongue in my mouth," Josh says, throwing caution to the wind, taking one of his hands off the counter and reaching for Lucas's where it rests lightly on his hip. He twines their fingers together.

"You gonna blame that on the ADD?" Lucas asks, lips curving in a smile that Josh feels, words a whisper against his ear.

"Not this time."

"I wouldn't even mind, really. I've had some pretty disgusting things in my mouth."

Josh huffs a little laugh, bringing his other hand up to bury in Lucas's curls. "I mean, join the club," he says emphatically. "But as first kisses go, it'd be pretty gross.

"Well, hey. Since you wowed me with your prowess today, I've got some overtime owing from like, a year ago. I could take you home, we could hang out?" Lucas suggests, hand moving from Josh's shoulder to the back of his head, fingers scritching gently at his nape. "Maybe brush your teeth?" 

The queasy feeling in Josh's stomach starts to morph into something else; something lighter, a warm thrill of butterflies.

  
  


### Thursday.

  
  


“You’re gonna stick around for a while, right?” Josh asks, looking up suddenly.

Sitting on a stool at the end of the kitchen island, his laptop on the counter, Lucas looks up at him in surprise. It's been a good five minutes since either of them said anything, Lucas focused on his work and Josh rolling out icing for a festive fruit cake. There's a half-empty bottle of brandy within arm's reach, ostensibly for dousing the cake, but Josh can't guarantee some won't end up in his mouth too. Just, y'know. By accident.

“As far as I know," Lucas says. "Why?”

“‘Cause it really sucks when people leave.”

Lucas pushes his glasses up his nose, regarding him thoughtfully. "Yeah. It's kind of one of the worst things about working here."

"The turnover just after we started was crazy."

Lucas looks up at the balcony above the kitchen. "I know. You ever think about some of the friendships and relationships that've gone on here over the years? In this building? In this studio, even? Some of the people who've come and gone. Loved and lost."

"You think people've loved and lost here?" Josh asks, pausing in his work to look up at Lucas's face. He puts the rolling pin down on the counter.

"Sure. Laughed and cried. Hours spent making seemingly pointless content for the internet, making great friends and doing amazing things, but after all that just leaving to work with different people, in a different place."

Josh stares at him, then looks up to the balcony. "I mean, I never thought you could romanticize this soulless kitchen, but you just did it."

"You ever been here late when everyone's gone? It feels kinda weird. I don't believe in ghosts, obviously, but it's almost like...some people were such big personalities, there are still echoes of them here."

"You know I found a baseball cap at the back of one of these cupboards a year or so ago?" Josh says. "I showed it to Link and he got kind of...verklempt about it. Said it was Eddie's. I mean, Eddie probably _did_ leave because of me, y'know? He did a lot of the kitchen stuff before that."

Lucas shakes his head. "Eddie did all sorts, man. He left because he got a better offer. Not your fault."

"We're all just getting older, right? Carving out as many memories here as we can."

Lucas smiles. Looks down at his laptop. "You’re gonna be famous, Josh. I’d bet a month’s wages that you’ll leave here before me.” He looks back up, hesitating for a moment as though he wants to add something. On meeting Josh's eyes he just stops, though, and holds his gaze, steady and intense. 

Josh feels the weight of the silence like a thump to the solar plexus.

  
  


### Friday.

  
  
“Lucas!”

Lucas pokes his head around the door at the call of his name, a mannequin under one arm and a box of christmas crackers in the other hand. “Hey Josh. What’s up, dude?”

“Can you spare five minutes?”

Lucas shrugs and props his plastic companion casually up against the doorframe, an alarmingly nude, anatomically incorrect figure looming out of the corridor. He drops the box of crackers to the floor. “Sure. Unless you want me to eat leeches or something.”

“No leeches,” Josh promises, and he pushes a tall glass across the island. “Pull up a stool. I need your advice.”

“You need _my_ advice?” Lucas asks, dubious, sitting down and looking at the intricately decorated ice cream in front of him. “It looks amazing. There bugs in there?”

“Would you try it?”

Lucas eyes the glass with suspicion, then looks up at Josh’s face searchingly for a moment before saying, “Okay,” and he picks up a spoon off the counter. “I trust you.”

Josh beams. “Thanks. I trust you too.”

“It’s not lavender again, is it?”

“No, just vanilla and chocolate. The lavender’s all mine, baby.”

"You can keep it," Lucas says, and he brings a spoon full of ice cream, sauce, nuts and sprinkles up, giving it one last critical eyeball before putting it into his mouth. 

Josh watches him expectantly.

Lucas lets it melt in his mouth before sliding the spoon back out and swallowing, the caution on his face melting away to plain happiness.

“Wow...this is _really_ good, Josh,” he praises, dunking the spoon back in the glass.

“It’s good? You like it?”

“Of course! It’s like chocolate heaven in there.”

“I mean, that’s basically what it is,” Josh says apologetically. “I made the ice cream myself, but apart from that it’s mostly just more chocolate and syrup and butter than you can shake a stick at.”

Lucas frowns as he stirs the spoon through the mixture, chocolate swirling into ice cream. “So why’m I tasting this, dude? What’s it for?”

“Honestly? I just wanted to do something nice for you. You’ve been kind of stressed out lately and, aside from alcohol, which I don’t think legally I’m allowed to ply you with at work for no good reason, I always find chocolate helps more than pretty much anything else.”

Lucas pushes his glasses back up his nose and looks up at Josh, surprise changing to a soft kind of shyness on his face. “Oh. You just made this for me for nothing? And pretended it was an experiment just to get me to eat it?”

“I figured it was the best way to get you in here. You’re always willing to help.”

“Like I wouldn’t have come in if you’d just said ‘Lucas, I’ve made this amazing dessert for you”?

“No, man, you would’ve said you were busy or gotten all strong and silent about it! You’re not a guy who accepts gifts readily, I’ve discovered. Or compliments.” Josh pauses in thought, frowning, then adds: “Or anything, actually. You’re kind of wary, aren’t you?”

Lucas is smiling before Josh has even finished speaking, tipping his head to one side to concede the point. “Maybe.”

“Eat some more. It’s all yours.”

Lucas reaches for the spoon again and then his nose wrinkles slightly. “Will you eat some too? It feels kinda weird just eating it in front of you.”

“I mean, I pretty much ate an entire one just in the process of putting that one together, but sure, if it’ll make you happy.”

“It will,” Lucas says simply, and he sits and waits while Josh turns to grab another spoon. 

“Did you finish that pulley-system thing you were building the other day? You looked like you were in for the long haul.”

“Yeah. And then it broke again when we tested it, so I’m back on it now. Amongst other things.”

Josh leans his elbows on the counter top and whaps the back of the spoon against one of his index fingers a few times thoughtfully. “You've been looking kind of exhausted and I don’t think I’ve seen you like this before, man. You’re always so chilled.” 

“It’s been a tough week,” Lucas admits. “And I really don’t get paid enough to be here ‘til eight pm every night building batshit crazy stuff, y’know?”

Josh glances towards the door - the last thing he wants is to get anyone in trouble, and in a place like Mythical Studios, the walls have ears. 

He nods towards the glass. “Get another spoonful of that, man. I’ll go after you.”

Lucas does as he’s told. The ice cream’s starting to melt now and it’s soft and rich with darkly glistening chocolate sauce. “You next,” he says. “And we’ll dink it.”

Josh smiles as he delves in there. “You’re not one of these squeamish-about-germs types, huh?”

“Germs aren’t even on my radar. If someone’s taken a bite out of some perfectly good food and left it, then it’s fair game.”

Josh reaches out with his spoon and Lucas does the same, a quick ‘dink’ that sends a couple of drops of melted ice cream down onto the counter. 

“I knew we were kindred spirits. You ever eaten fries off someone’s abandoned plate at a restaurant while you wait to be seated?”

Lucas looks at him like he’s an idiot. “Of course. You ever woken up hungry the morning after a house party and just wandered around eating old chips and dips people probably double-dipped a hundred times?”

“I’ve eaten stuff here that Link’s basically _gagged_ on, then put back on the plate.” 

Lucas laughs at that. “You’re what I aspire to be.” 

“I mean, I saw you eating frozen carrots off the floor the other day, and that floor's seen some action, so....” 

“Waste not, want not.” 

“Speaking of which...you wanna finish the rest of this ice cream? I was gonna throw it out since it’s defrosted beyond repair, but I mean, it’s still edible. I put it in the fridge earlier.”

Lucas shrugs. “Sure. Bring me all your trash-destined food.” 

Josh pushes away from the counter with a smile and turns to the huge double-door fridge behind him. Under the Friday on his to-do whiteboard he’s written ‘Lucas’ in a small scrawl.

He reaches past a tray of gingerbread dough that's firming up and grabs the ice cream tub, and as he's shutting the door again a hand comes down on his shoulder and he jumps guiltily, turning his back to cover the whiteboard instinctively. “_Jesus_," he says, heart thumping as Lucas looms in front of him. "Boy, you’re stealthy, aren't you?" 

Lucas smiles at him, pressing his palm flat to the door on one side of Josh’s head and leaning against it. He takes the ice cream tub with the other hand and reaches to put it on the counter before giving Josh his full attention. 

“Your strategically placed mistletoe didn’t escape me,” he remarks, glancing upwards. Josh looks up, confused, and finds that there really is a bunch of mistletoe hanging from the lights above them. 

“Oh, I didn’t…” he starts to say, but as he looks back down he realises that Lucas has lifted his glasses up to perch on top of his head and his eyes are really, really blue. “Oh. Hey, buddy.” 

“Hi.”

“I promise I did _not_ put that up there.”

“I believe you. You don’t usually need the help.”

Lucas smiles at him and Josh smiles right back, surprise turning into this little ball of warmth in his chest instead, that calm, low energy aura of Lucas’s lowering his heart rate second by second. “Are you saying mistletoe is defunct because I'm super easy?” he asks.

“I’m saying you draw people to you like moths to a flame. People don’t need prompts, with you.” 

“Oh,” Josh says, surprised, and then Lucas leans in and bumps their foreheads together gently, his hand coming up to cup Josh's jaw.

"Can I kiss you now?" he asks softly.

"Please," Josh says, closing his eyes, a little breathless. He feels Lucas pull his glasses carefully away from his face and then a long, long few seconds pass before the first touch of Lucas's mouth to his own sends a shock of anticipation down through his core, like someone's given him a jolt with electrodes. It's warm and firm and lovely, and he curls a hand around the back of Lucas's neck, feeling the hum of the fridge against his back, his whole world suddenly surrounded with quiet, all-encompassing comfort. Lucas tastes like ice cream and chocolate and everything that's good, his hand warm and gentle against Josh's cheek.

Josh thinks about carving out memories in the Mythical studios. Thinks of the people who'd loved and lost there in the past. Wonders whether this echo of himself and Lucas will haunt the kitchen in years to come, whether they're still there or not.

And then Lucas tilts his head to kiss him a little deeper, and Josh doesn't think much about anything, anymore. 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> NB. I didn't make up Lucas wearing Josh's glasses - he does it towards the end of the 'Speed Eating an Orange' Food Feat episode.


End file.
